'Dreadline Express' Game Developer David Konecny Talks Stressful Player Choice & The Art Of Building A Psychological Horror
News Source
•Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:00:00 +0000
📰 What Happened
Czech developer David Konecny is releasing his first commercial game, Dreadline Express. Players ride a train at the end of the world. A card-based system lets them learn about passengers and change how their stories end.
Konecny built the game mostly alone, with help on art and audio. He works in software development by day. He says the game is inspired by titles like Duke Nukem 3D and SOMA, and by films from director Ari Aster.
🔍 The Backstory
Konecny grew up without a computer and read game magazines instead. He begged his parents for a machine and joined a children's programming group. He later studied programming at university.
There were no game development courses in his country at the time. The big studios were in other cities, so he went into software. He made free games and game jam projects before this one, but many were never finished.
🎯 Why It Matters
Small teams can now make games that look like studio products. It gives players stranger, more personal stories than big publishers usually risk.
Czech developer David Konecny is releasing his first commercial game, Dreadline Express. Players ride a train at the end of the world. A card-based system lets them learn about passengers and change how their stories end.
Konecny built the game mostly alone, with help on art and audio. He works in software development by day. He says the game is inspired by titles like Duke Nukem 3D and SOMA, and by films from director Ari Aster.
Konecny grew up without a computer and read game magazines instead. He begged his parents for a machine and joined a children's programming group. He later studied programming at university.
There were no game development courses in his country at the time. The big studios were in other cities, so he went into software. He made free games and game jam projects before this one, but many were never finished.
Small teams can now make games that look like studio products. It gives players stranger, more personal stories than big publishers usually risk.